Panther Medium-Heavy Tank
weight
gun caliber
Speed
44.8 t
75 mm
34 mph
Panther Tank
ID: Plastic tank gaming piece: Panzer V (Panther) tank/ armor piece from the game Axis & Allies
The Story of the Panther: Confident in their gear, the German Wehrmacht was caught off guard by the fast and well-protected Soviet T-34 tank and created the Panther as their counter. Never known for under-engineering their gear, the Germans kept adding armor to make sure it was a match for the T-34 in every dimension, ultimately leading to a vehicle almost 19 tons heavier than the T-34 it was meant to counter; it was also 20 tons heavier than the Panzer IV it was designed to replace! Not to worry though: It was also fast, powered by the same 690 hp Maybach HL 230 V-12 as the much heavier still Tiger Tank, giving it superlative mobility. Neither did it sacrifice anything in firepower: while its 75 mm cannon may superficially sound smaller than the T-34’s 76.2 mm cannon, the Panther’s gun was the unstoppable, high-velocity 75L70 converted from one of Germany’s best anti-tank guns; no tank armor built was proof against this Panther’s bite! Was this a really medium tank as it had been intended to be... or was it really an extraordinarily fast and agile heavy tank? Experts can’t agree, so you make the call! The allies, after gathering initial intelligence about it made the critical mistake of assuming that it was the latter and that therefore it would be produced in only limited numbers like the Tiger Tank, and gave countering it with new and heavier tanks of their own a low priority... Big mistake! Thanks to the logistical genius of the new armaments minister Albert Speer, the German Army managed to streamline Panther production and manufactured them in quantity in the second half of the war. And they used this new “Panzer V†extensively! It was rushed into service in 1943 at the Battle of Kursk and was also used in great numbers in the Battle of the Bulge. It became, for all intents and purposes THE “Main Battle Tank†for the German Army in the second half of the WW2!
Usage Notes: Use this piece for “Global 1939†and “Invasion of Italy†Variants as either a medium or heavy armor unit (depending on your own “House Rules†preference.) Other German tanks of interest may be: 38t Light tank, Pz. III Med. tank, Pz IV Med. tank, Stug III Tank Destroyer, Tiger 1 Heavy Tank, and the Tiger II Heavy tank.
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